Mary Sudduth, LCSW

Mary Sudduth is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who helps people facing stress, anxiety, grief, depression, and life transitions. She approaches counseling in a straightforward way and focuses on practical steps people can use right away.

Mary draws on 16 years of clinical experience and a long career in social work that began in the 1990s. Her background includes healthcare social work, work with people facing chronic medical conditions, hospice and end-of-life care, and training roles in education and nonprofit settings. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Social Work and a Master of Social Work and holds Virginia licensure as an LCSW.

Her style blends cognitive behavioral ideas with client-centered listening and psychodynamic perspectives to fit each person’s needs. She often uses worksheets, relaxation exercises, and problem-solving steps so clients can practice skills between sessions. Mary also incorporates solution-focused techniques and Internal Family Systems ideas when they match someone’s goals.

Mary works with a wide range of concerns, including caregiving stress, chronic pain and illness, addiction, family conflict, parenting challenges, and issues related to aging or cancer. She aims to identify small, realistic changes that reduce distress and increase daily functioning.

People who prefer a practical, experience-based approach may find her style helpful. Her sessions tend to be concrete, goal-oriented, and respectful of each person’s life circumstances.

Therapeutic approaches and online care that fit your life

Mary commonly uses cognitive behavioral therapy and client-centered therapy in online sessions. Cognitive behavioral therapy helps identify unhelpful thoughts and build practical skills to change behaviors and reduce symptoms like anxiety and depression. Client-centered therapy focuses on listening, validating what matters to you, and shaping the pace and goals around your needs.

She also draws on psychodynamic ideas to help uncover patterns that influence current feelings and relationships. That approach can be useful when people want to understand why certain reactions repeat or cause distress over time. Together, Mary and the client decide which approach or combination will best match the person’s goals and life situation in a collaborative way.

Online therapy offers flexibility through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging. Video is useful for face-to-face conversation, phone sessions can fit a short break or situations with lower bandwidth, chat or messaging work well for quick check-ins or when writing feels easier. These options let people fit care into work, caregiving, or health schedules while continuing regular progress.